The following sources from the University of California, Davis, are available to talk with media about climate change impacts and solutions related to agriculture. 

More UC Davis climate change experts lists are available under the topic areas of atmospheric sciences, water, wildfire and air quality, wildlife conservation and infectious disease, energy and transportation, and community resilience.

Economics

Daniel Sumner is a distinguished professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and director of the UC Agricultural Issues Center. He can discuss agricultural market responses to climate change and to climate policies. Contact: [email protected]

Michael Carter is a professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Assets and Market Access. He can discuss the impact climate change has on world poverty and food security, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, as well as public policies and interventions designed to promote climate adaptation for small-scale farmers and pastoralists. Contact: 530-752-4672, [email protected]

Soil

Amélie Guadin is an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. She can discuss adaptation and resilience of agricultural crops to climate change, including soil health. Contact: 530-752-1212, [email protected]

Livestock emissions

Ermias Kebreab is deputy director of the Agricultural Sustainability Institute and a professor of Animal Science. He can discuss strategies to reduce methane emissions from livestock production, including research involving seaweed’s potential to cut methane emissions in beef and dairy cattle. Contact: 530-752-5907, [email protected]

Frank Mitloehner is a professor of Animal Science and an Air Quality Cooperative Extension Specialist. He can discuss efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the livestock sector. Contact: 530-752-3936, [email protected]

Rangelands

Ken Tate is a professor and rangeland watershed specialist in Cooperative Extension. He can discuss impacts of drought and a changing climate on rangelands and livestock ranches, as well as the role well-managed rangelands could play in reducing wildfire risks and severity. Contact: [email protected]

Leslie Roche is an assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences. She can discuss ranching and livestock production on California’s rangeland and pastures, including how land managers can cope with and adapt to drought. Contact: 530-752-5583, [email protected] 

Plants, breeding and food quality

Charlie Brummer directs the Plant Breeding Center. He can discuss the necessity, difficulties, and opportunities of breeding plants in a changing climate. Contact:ecbrummer@ucdavis.edu

Kent Bradford directs the Seed Biotechnology Center and is a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. He can talk about the role of technology in breeding plants under climate change. Contact: 530-752-6087, [email protected]

Gail Taylor is a professor and department chair of Plant Sciences. Her genomic research focuses on how plants and crops can adapt over multiple generations and long timescales to a future high-CO2 world. She also researches the potential of bioenergy and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage as a negative emissions technology to mitigate rising atmospheric CO2 emissions. Contact: 530-752-9165, [email protected]  

Arnold Bloom is a Plant Sciences professor who can discuss how plants, crops and food quality respond to climate changes. Contact: 530-752-1743, [email protected]

David Fujino is executive director of the California Center for Urban Horticulture. He sits on the Climate Change Adaptation workgroup to collaborate on research and extension projects specific to climate change adaptation. He can discuss climate issues related to urban horticulture. Contact: 530-754-7739, [email protected]

Mary Cadenasso, is an urban ecosystem ecologist and a professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. She can discuss how urbanization and human activities alter landscapes and ecosystems. Contact: [email protected]